Nursing Interventions: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

1. Treat infection as ordered.
2. Provide the patient with normal saline or bicarbonate mouthwash for daily oral rinsing.
3. Use antiemetic therapy to control nausea and vomiting.
4. Record the patient’s caloric intake.
5. Ensure adequate fluids during episodes of diarrhea.
6. Provide meticulous skin care, especially in the debilitated patient.
7. Encourage the patient to maintain as much physical activity as he can tolerate.
8. Monitor patient for fever and signs and symptoms of infection such as skin breakdown, cough, sore throat, and diarrhea.
9. Monitor the patient’s level of consciousness, any occurrence of mental lapses, and sensory deficits such as headaches and numbness or tingling in the extremities.
10. If the patient’s develops Kaposi’s sarcoma, monitor the progression of the lesion.
11. Watch for opportunistic infections or signs of disease progression.
12. Provide careful instruction about the combination therapies and the necessity to follow prescription directions.
13. Teach the patient and his family, sexual partners, and friends about AIDS and its transmission.
14. Urge the patient to inform potential sexual partners and health care workers that he has HIV infection.
15. If the patient uses I.V. drugs, caution him not to share needles.
16. Advise the female patient of childbearing age to avoid pregnancy.
17. Involve the patient with hospice care early in the treatment so he can establish a relationship.